


The Wood For The Trees

by Black_Crystal_Dragon



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ajan Kloss, Assumed Relationship, Bisexual Poe Dameron, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Fluff, Friendship, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, Movie: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Oblivious Poe Dameron, POV Poe Dameron, Pining, Post-Canon, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Spoilers, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Spoilers, blink and you'll miss it implied Zorii/Rose, brief suggestion of Poe/Zorii, mentions of other members of the Resistance, spoilers are not very spoilery, talking about feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22549573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Crystal_Dragon/pseuds/Black_Crystal_Dragon
Summary: Sometimes, the most difficult thing to see is what's right in front of you.During the victory celebrations, Zorii helps Poe to realise what he's feeling - and gives him the push he needs to do something about it.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Zorii Bliss & Poe Dameron
Comments: 13
Kudos: 159





	The Wood For The Trees

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my BFF [Ice_Elf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ice_Elf/pseuds/Ice_Elf) for the beta (and confidence boost).

The victory celebrations had been in full swing for hours now. Despite their losses, they had returned to Ajan Kloss with more ships than they left with and crowds of civilians mingled with Resistance fighters beneath the wings and bulky engines. Someone had cracked open the stores – without permission, but Poe was going to let that slide, especially since he was taking advantage along with everyone else. Eventually they would mourn the dead and look to the hard work of building a future, but for now the euphoria of winning against monumental odds was set to carry them through the dark hours and he was happy to let it.

He wandered past the ranks of starfighters and transports, cruisers and freighters, exchanging greetings and thanks as he worked his way through the crowd. It felt like something he ought to do, something Leia would have done. As a General’s obligations went, it was one of the most pleasant. 

“Zorii!” he cried when he spotted her. Her helmet was off to facilitate drinking but her hair was still pulled up into a messy knot at the back of her head. She looked amazing – everything and everyone looked amazing, with the glow of triumph illuminating the base as much as the ships’ external lights.

“Hey, spice-runner,” she chuckled as he weaved his way across to her and threw an arm around her shoulders. She shot a pointed look at it. “Should you be doing that?”

“Ah, it’s fine,” he scoffed, ignoring the pain that flared through the laser burn high on his arm. It wasn’t that bad. One of the medics had caught him and refreshed the dressing earlier.

“Yeah, well,” she said and extracted herself. “Better not, just in case.”

“Still looking out for me,” he said as he propped himself against the bank of crates she was leaning on.

“Somebody’s got to,” she shot back, “And I don’t see your friends anywhere nearby.”

“I see one of them,” he murmured and lifted his drink in invitation. She looked at him, assessing, then tipped the neck of her bottle to meet the rim of his glass as if in agreement before they both drank. 

They stood in silence after: Zorii scanning the crowd with the attitude of someone far too used to looking over one shoulder and Poe watching her. She was beautiful and sharp and intelligent, and Poe hadn’t allowed himself before now to notice how much he’d missed her.

“We could’ve been great together, couldn’t we?” he said. He hadn’t meant to speak, but his tongue was loosened by the alcohol and the words slipped out on a sigh.

She didn’t look at him, but she smiled a little. “Maybe.”

“Still could be,” he murmured.

It was worth a shot. There was always an unrealised something between the two of them, a spark that both he and Zorii had blown on from time to time but never seriously tended into a flame. There was no reason they couldn’t do that now. In the aftermath of destroying the First and Final Order, anything felt possible.

Except she scoffed a laugh.

Poe raised his eyebrows. “What? General of the Resistance not good enough for you?”

He thought maybe he’d hit the nail on the head by accident with his choice of words. The victory meant that the Resistance was on its way to becoming respectable, the same way that the Rebels in the last war had found themselves honoured members of society after the Empire fell, and Zorii preferred a life outside the law. However, when she turned towards him, her grin fell away and he knew that wasn’t it.

“Wait, you’re serious?” She sounded genuinely shocked.

“Well,” he began, trying to shrug it off, but she interrupted before he got any further.

“What about Finn?” she snapped.

“Finn?” he frowned. “What’s Finn got to do with anything?”

She stared at him, intensity turning to confusion. “You’re not …?”

She didn’t finish the question but the lift of her brows and the cadence of her voice was all the implication he needed. His heart jumped and a flush raced up the back of his neck.

“No!” he yelped. “Zorii – you think I would’ve asked to kiss you right in front of him if I was?”

“I thought you were just kidding!” she cried. “Or making him jealous, I don’t know.”

“Well, I wasn’t and we’re not …” Poe trailed off and shook his head. She waited as he struggled to find the right set of words. Thinking about it made the deepest parts of his chest ache. He finally settled on: “We’re just friends.”

“Just,” she murmured wistfully and looked away. “Yeah. I know how that feels.”

“Zorii –”

“Not you, idiot,” she said and thumped him in the stomach hard enough that he knew she wasn’t just sparing his feelings or hiding her own. “We’re not all pining after the ‘best pilot in the Resistance’.”

He ducked his head, chuckling at the sarcasm despite his embarrassment. “Right. Of course not. Sorry.”

She took a long pull from her bottle and eyed him sidelong. “But some people are.”

“Some people,” he conceded, though with a healthy dose of cynicism. “Not you. And not Finn either.”

“How d’you fly so well when you’re blind, Dameron?” she asked. “He lights up when you’re around.”

Zorii’s voice was unexpectedly soft. It reminded him of the moment they’d shared up on the rooftops above Babu’s workshop. He glanced sideways. She had turned towards him and her expression was very serious.

“He’s like that with everybody,” he said through the knot suddenly lodged in his throat, but she shook her head.

“Not like he is with you. No accounting for taste, I guess, but I heard a rumour you don’t look half bad when you smile. You should try it sometime, get rid of these.”

She pressed her thumb between his brows as if she could smooth out the wrinkles there just by touch. He batted her away, fighting against a grin and trying to school his face into an appropriate expression of annoyance, while also worrying in the back of his mind that those lines she’d pointed out were becoming an actual permanent feature. Zorii relented and moved her hands to his collar, straightening it before smoothing over his shoulders. When she was done, she shook him gently.

“You’re not fooling anybody with that grumpy face, you know,” she told him. “You do it too.”

He raised his eyebrows. “I do what now?”

“Light up,” she said, as if it was that simple.

He thought about protesting only she was right. Maybe not about anything else, but the galaxy was brighter when Finn was there. There was no doubt he responded to that. But –

“There’s somebody else, Zorii,” he said. The words felt heavy in his mouth.

“What, the Jedi?” she asked. He nodded. She gave his shoulders a final squeeze and fixed him with a pitying look as she folded her arms. “You really are blind. I don’t know what to do with you.”

“You could take me up on my offer of running away together,” he suggested, actually joking this time. “You, me, that Y-Wing you and Babu showed up in – what model is that, anyway?”

She groaned a laugh. “You only like me for my ship.”

“That’s not the only reason,” he said, sobering. “I’m glad you could make it. I’m glad –”

He broke off, unable to say, _I’m glad you had a ship ready. I’m glad you got off Kijimi. I’m glad you’re here_. She rescued him before he could try to finish the sentence.

“Yeah. Me too,” she said with a sad little smile as if she knew exactly what he was thinking. She sucked in a deep breath. “Now: I need a refill and you, General, are going to get me to the front of the line.”

She tugged him away from the crates and slipped a hand into the crook of his bad arm to tether them together as she navigated the crowds. When they entered the refectory tent, Poe’s eyes swept over the tables automatically – Finn was right where he’d left him – as Zorii guided them up to the makeshift bar. She ignored the three-deep bank of people trying to get hold of fresh drinks and circled around to the end of the bar. Poe waved at the droids who were serving and pointed at Zorii, who leaned forwards to give her order when the nearest one approached. Duty fulfilled, he set his empty glass on the table-top and let his attention drift.

Finn was sitting with his shoulder pressed against Rey’s, both of them laughing while Rose gestured with both hands. Poe had left that table half an hour ago, probably longer, but there was still a space on Finn’s other side almost like he’d been saving Poe’s spot for when he got back. The corner of his mouth ticked up and something warm and unjustifiably pleased unfurled in his stomach.

As the group around the table calmed a little, Finn lifted his head to scan the crowd. Poe’s brows pulled in at the thought that he couldn’t switch off his instincts even now, in the middle of their home and the midst of their victory, but then he recognised the look on his face. Finn wasn’t checking for danger. He was looking for something specific. Someone.

The way Poe himself had come in here and immediately searched him out.

He was suddenly aware of his own heartbeat. He wanted Finn to find him, wanted to be the person he was looking for – but his gaze might only pause in recognition before moving on. Poe didn’t know what that would do to him. Just acknowledging that it might happen sent jitters dithering under his skin. He could turn around. He could, in fact, shoulder his way right out of the tent and not look back, and never know. Except he couldn’t move and it had nothing to do with Zorii’s hand resting on his arm while she talked the droid into handing her a second bottle.

Finn’s eyes met his.

Poe’s heart kicked against his ribs. Across the room, Finn’s face lit up – just like Zorii had said, as if there was a little bit of joy he’d been saving for when he caught sight of him. He didn’t look away. Poe could feel an answering grin spreading across his face while a delighted flutter worked its way through his insides.

Finn had been looking for him. Finn had saved his seat. Finn was smiling at him like there was nothing else in the galaxy but the two of them.

“You’re so in love with him,” Zorri said beside him. She sounded a little disgusted, but mostly fond.

His heart gave a painful twist that said _yes, yes I am_.

His grin faltered. He hadn’t known that. How had he not realised? How had Zorii seen it? Had anybody else noticed? Had Finn?

“You have to tell him,” she said, cutting short the panic racing through his thoughts.

“Oh, no. No no no no,” he sputtered as he rounded on her. She raised one dark brow.

“Let me put it like this: you have to tell him before I do,” she told him. “Come on. He wants to say hi.”

“Zorii!” Poe hissed, but it was too late: Finn was indeed beckoning them over and Zorii was towing him towards the table and he couldn’t fight it. He couldn’t have Finn thinking he didn’t want to come over, after all. He plastered on a big fake smile and resorted to begging through his teeth. “Zorii, please – you can’t, you wouldn’t tell him. Right?”

She flashed him a grin over her shoulder and said nothing.

The group hailed their arrival with lots of shouting and shuffling around to make room at the table. Zorii perched herself on the arm of Rose’s chair and set about introducing herself, but Poe couldn’t sit down. There was a current running under his skin, the same uneasy energy he felt before a battle. He stood at the head of the table, wishing he had something to do with his hands, and then suddenly Finn was next to him, taking his arm and turning him away from the boisterous chatter.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked in a low voice that was just for the two of them.

Poe risked a glance at Zorii. Her steady gaze watching him was warning enough of what would happen if he let Finn sit back down.

“Did I interrupt something?” Finn asked, looking over at her with obvious concern written all over his features.

“No! No, nothing like that, we were just grabbing drinks,” Poe explained. Was that relief that flickered across Finn’s face so fast he could’ve blinked and missed it? Or satisfaction, that there was nothing going on between Poe and Zorii? Whatever it was, it set off another burst of squirming in the pit of his stomach. He swallowed. “Listen, can I talk to you?”

“That’s what we’re doing,” Finn said, in what Poe was fairly sure was deliberate straight-faced misunderstanding. He didn’t quite groan, but his frustration had to show on his face because a second later Finn was squeezing his arm and murmuring, “Yeah, okay, all right.”

He turned back to the table for a second, catching Rey’s eye and exchanging some kind of wordless communication that made Poe’s jaw clench with – yes, jealousy, that was what he’d been feeling around the two of them, the nameless thing that clawed through his chest every time Finn took her side or sought her company or shared a secret that he wouldn’t reveal to Poe. He swallowed it back as Finn’s gaze returned to him.

“Let’s, uh –” Poe waved towards the exit at the rear of the tent.

Finn nodded and they made their way outside. It was darker here, with only a few lanterns marking the paths between sleeping quarters, and the muggy night seemed closer than before. Poe stopped, but Finn grabbed his hand and tugged him onwards into the jungle.

“You’re going to get us lost,” he protested weakly to distract himself from the feel of Finn’s palm against his, the certainty of his grip.

“There’s a path,” Finn said. “And you have to see the view from up here.”

“Finn, buddy,” Poe said, laughing even as he stumbled over a tree root, “I’ve seen the view from orbit.”

“It’s not the same,” Finn told him, like he was an authority on the subject. They crashed past a bush. Night critters scurried away from their footsteps, rustling the leaves.

“It’s dark,” Poe warned him. He’d hate for Finn to lead him up to some lookout point and then not be able to see anything – not so much for himself, because he’d seen it all before from a cockpit, but he didn’t want Finn to be disappointed.

“Would you just wait,” Finn huffed.

They emerged from the undergrowth onto a little plateau. Poe hadn’t really been paying attention to where they’d been going but they must have turned back on themselves at some point because spread below was the Resistance camp, ships peeking between the foliage and rising up alongside the trees. He stopped next to Finn and stared down, jaw slack. From here he could appreciate the sheer scale of how many people they’d brought back: this cross-section of the galaxy who’d come together in such large numbers when the Resistance sent out the call.

“Usually you can see the stars from up here,” Finn said sadly as he let go of Poe’s hand. Instead of looking down, his gaze was fixed on the dark expanse of sky above. “I thought you’d like that. But with all the lights …”

He gestured towards the ships and then shrugged, avoiding Poe’s gaze.

“This is great,” Poe reassured him, “Just what I needed to see.”

He’d seen enough stars for one day. It was far more satisfying to observe the hundreds of people united below them, sharing in the bittersweet elation of defeating the First Order. Even better was the smile that bloomed across Finn’s lips and wrapped around Poe almost like a physical thing.

“Good,” he said, and sneaked a shy glance at Poe.

It felt like the drop out of lightspeed, the sensation of leaving his stomach somewhere far behind the rest of his body – and it wasn’t the first time he’d felt that when Finn looked at him. How had he _not known_? He should have registered the jolt of his own attraction, even if he didn’t recognise the other signs. Yet somehow he’d overlooked it. Somehow, he’d gone months without noticing the depth of his own feelings and now he knew they were there he was drowning in them.

Poe lost track of how long they’d been standing on the plateau, distracted by his thoughts and Finn’s solemn face in profile, and so was unprepared when Finn eventually turned towards him and said, “So what did you want to talk about?”

“You,” he blurted. Finn looked surprised, which was fair enough but also kicked Poe’s simmering nerves up a notch. He hastily qualified, “Well, you and me. Us. Our whole – thing, you know.”

“Our whole thing,” Finn repeated warily. His eyes narrowed. “Are you demoting me?”

“What? No!” Poe yelped.

“Because I know we’re not actually at war any more but –”

“I said I couldn’t do this without you and I meant it. Even if I could, I wouldn’t want to do it alone. War or not, I still need you,” Poe told him in the firmest voice he could muster. Then he swallowed and said, “I think I’m always going to need you.”

The notch between Finn’s brows smoothed out but didn’t entirely disappear. He searched Poe’s face before he spoke again.

“To share your responsibilities,” he said slowly, like he wasn’t sure that was what Poe meant.

“Yeah,” he admitted, because he did want that – needed it, honestly – and it was easier to start there. He blundered on: “But I want more than that, Finn. I want to share everything with you. Not just the Resistance and the title. Everything. The whole of my life.”

The look on Finn’s face was starting to look a lot like hope. A smile hovered around his lips as he asked, “Even the part where you were a spice runner?”

A laugh hitched in Poe’s throat. “Yeah, even that, if you want to hear about it. All of it. The good and the bad. Finn –”

“I want to hear about everything. Be a part of everything you want to share with me,” Finn murmured in a rush, as if he was afraid Poe might take it back.

“You sure about that? I mean, there’s plenty of bad,” he said, half-joking, and then bit his lip before his nerves got the better of him and he started rambling again.

Finn’s gaze dropped to his mouth and lingered there. “I’m sure.”

Poe’s stomach swooped. He was suddenly very aware of how close they were to one another. His hands found their way under Finn’s jacket to his waist, silently urging him another half-step nearer.

“You know want to know why I’m sure?” Finn asked, looking up into Poe’s eyes again.

There was practically no space between them. Poe couldn’t resist bumping his nose into Finn’s as he gave an inquisitive hum. The movement tipped his head into the perfect position for a kiss. He glanced down and back up.

“Because I love you,” Finn murmured against his lips.

Poe kissed him – kissed him and slid his arms around his waist to hold him close. The fear tangled up in his chest had split open into joy so breathless and encompassing that he could feel the prick of tears. Finn’s fingers danced up his sides and bracketed either side of his jaw, and as they slid up into his hair his mouth shuddered open on a gasp.

Finn leaned back, his touch retreating down to Poe’s shoulders. They stared at one another, panting. A giddy, infectious laugh bubbled out of Finn as he butted their foreheads together.

“Hey, you stole my line,” Poe grinned.

“Huh?” Finn blinked, lost, leaning back a little to take in Poe’s face. The soft remnants of his smile expanded to fill his whole face with happiness as it dawned on him. “Oh!”

“Yeah,” Poe chuckled, nuzzling closer and pressing a kiss to his lips, then another because he couldn’t resist. “I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Poe really is a difficult man. He didn’t want to talk to Finn about his feelings AT ALL. But Zorii (and I) made him.


End file.
